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Francis Lieber
Francis Lieber (German: [ˈliːbɐ]; born Franz Lieber; 18 March 1798 – 2 October 1872) was a German and American jurist and political philosopher. He is best known for the Lieber Code, the first modern codification of the customary law and the laws of war for battlefield conduct, which served as a basis for the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and for the later Geneva Conventions. He was also a pioneer in the fields of law, political science, and sociology in the United States.
Born in Berlin, Prussia, to a Jewish merchant family, Lieber served in the Prussian Army during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon Bonaparte. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Jena in 1820. A republican, he volunteered to fight on the Greek side in the Greek War of Independence in 1821. After experiencing repression in Prussia for his political views, he emigrated to the United States in 1827. During his early years in America, he worked a number of jobs, including swimming and gymnastics instructor, editor of the first editions of the Encyclopaedia Americana, journalist, and translator.
Lieber wrote a plan of education for the newly founded Girard College and lectured at New York University before becoming a tenured professor of history and political economy at the University of South Carolina in 1835. In 1857, he joined the faculty at Columbia University where he assumed the chair of history and political science in 1858. He transferred to Columbia Law School in 1865 where he taught until his death in 1872.
Lieber was commissioned by the U.S. Army to write the Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field (General Orders No. 100, 24 April 1863), the Lieber Code of military law that governed the battlefield conduct of the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Lieber Code was the first codification of the customary law and the laws of war governing the battlefield conduct of an army in the field, and later was a basis for the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and for the Geneva Conventions.
Franz Lieber was born the tenth of twelve children to a wealthy Jewish merchant family in Berlin, then the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. The year of his birth (1798 or 1800) has been debated because he lied about his age in order to enlist. Lieber joined the Colberg Regiment of the Prussian Army in 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars, and was wounded in Namur, Belgium during the Battle of Waterloo. He was treated in a military hospital in Huy, which was then part of the Netherlands but which is today Belgium. He rejoined his regiment after recovering from his wounds, but developed a typhoid fever and was subsequently treated at military hospitals in Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne.
After the war, he was a high school student at Graues Kloster in Berlin. He became politically active during this time period, was arrested by Prussian authorities, and held for pretrial detention in Spandau prison from July to November 1819. Returning to Berlin after the Napoleonic wars (post 1815), he passed the entrance exams for the University of Berlin. However, he was denied admission because of his membership in the Berliner Burschenschaft, which opposed the Prussian monarchy. Moving to Jena, Lieber entered the University of Jena in 1820 and within four months finished writing a dissertation in the field of mathematics. As the Prussian authorities caught up with him, Lieber left Jena for Dresden to study topography with Major Decker (briefly). In Prussia, Lieber was imprisoned and repeatedly questioned for his republican views.
In 1821, Lieber, like many young European liberals, was inspired by the Romantic movement to assist the greeks, whom he viewed as the "noble descendants of Pericles" fighting against "Oriental despotism." Upon his arrival in the Peloponnese in late 1821, however, Lieber encountered a conflict characterized by radical religious and ethnic hatred rather than Enlightenment ideals. His disillusionment led him to record atrocities that were largely suppressed or ignored by the pro-Greek press in Western Europe at the time. According to his observations, the slaughter of women and children was presented by the insurgents as a religious and national necessity to "purify" the land. A significant portion of his account details systematic Mass rapes. Lieber recorded with horror that European volunteers were frequently mocked by Greek rebels for refusing to participate in the violation and subsequent murder of captive Turkish women. For many insurgents, the desecration of the "infidel" enemy was an integral part of the victory.
He then spent one year, 1822–1823, in Rome tutoring the son of the Prussian ambassador, historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr. While there, Lieber wrote about his experiences in Greece. The result was published in Leipzig in 1823 and also in Amsterdam under the title The German Anacharsis. Lieber returned to Germany on a royal pardon, but was soon imprisoned once again, this time at Köpenick. He was in pretrial detention at Köpenick from August 1824 to April 1825.
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Francis Lieber
Francis Lieber (German: [ˈliːbɐ]; born Franz Lieber; 18 March 1798 – 2 October 1872) was a German and American jurist and political philosopher. He is best known for the Lieber Code, the first modern codification of the customary law and the laws of war for battlefield conduct, which served as a basis for the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and for the later Geneva Conventions. He was also a pioneer in the fields of law, political science, and sociology in the United States.
Born in Berlin, Prussia, to a Jewish merchant family, Lieber served in the Prussian Army during the Wars of Liberation against Napoleon Bonaparte. He obtained a doctorate from the University of Jena in 1820. A republican, he volunteered to fight on the Greek side in the Greek War of Independence in 1821. After experiencing repression in Prussia for his political views, he emigrated to the United States in 1827. During his early years in America, he worked a number of jobs, including swimming and gymnastics instructor, editor of the first editions of the Encyclopaedia Americana, journalist, and translator.
Lieber wrote a plan of education for the newly founded Girard College and lectured at New York University before becoming a tenured professor of history and political economy at the University of South Carolina in 1835. In 1857, he joined the faculty at Columbia University where he assumed the chair of history and political science in 1858. He transferred to Columbia Law School in 1865 where he taught until his death in 1872.
Lieber was commissioned by the U.S. Army to write the Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field (General Orders No. 100, 24 April 1863), the Lieber Code of military law that governed the battlefield conduct of the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861–1865). The Lieber Code was the first codification of the customary law and the laws of war governing the battlefield conduct of an army in the field, and later was a basis for the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 and for the Geneva Conventions.
Franz Lieber was born the tenth of twelve children to a wealthy Jewish merchant family in Berlin, then the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia. The year of his birth (1798 or 1800) has been debated because he lied about his age in order to enlist. Lieber joined the Colberg Regiment of the Prussian Army in 1815 during the Napoleonic Wars, and was wounded in Namur, Belgium during the Battle of Waterloo. He was treated in a military hospital in Huy, which was then part of the Netherlands but which is today Belgium. He rejoined his regiment after recovering from his wounds, but developed a typhoid fever and was subsequently treated at military hospitals in Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne.
After the war, he was a high school student at Graues Kloster in Berlin. He became politically active during this time period, was arrested by Prussian authorities, and held for pretrial detention in Spandau prison from July to November 1819. Returning to Berlin after the Napoleonic wars (post 1815), he passed the entrance exams for the University of Berlin. However, he was denied admission because of his membership in the Berliner Burschenschaft, which opposed the Prussian monarchy. Moving to Jena, Lieber entered the University of Jena in 1820 and within four months finished writing a dissertation in the field of mathematics. As the Prussian authorities caught up with him, Lieber left Jena for Dresden to study topography with Major Decker (briefly). In Prussia, Lieber was imprisoned and repeatedly questioned for his republican views.
In 1821, Lieber, like many young European liberals, was inspired by the Romantic movement to assist the greeks, whom he viewed as the "noble descendants of Pericles" fighting against "Oriental despotism." Upon his arrival in the Peloponnese in late 1821, however, Lieber encountered a conflict characterized by radical religious and ethnic hatred rather than Enlightenment ideals. His disillusionment led him to record atrocities that were largely suppressed or ignored by the pro-Greek press in Western Europe at the time. According to his observations, the slaughter of women and children was presented by the insurgents as a religious and national necessity to "purify" the land. A significant portion of his account details systematic Mass rapes. Lieber recorded with horror that European volunteers were frequently mocked by Greek rebels for refusing to participate in the violation and subsequent murder of captive Turkish women. For many insurgents, the desecration of the "infidel" enemy was an integral part of the victory.
He then spent one year, 1822–1823, in Rome tutoring the son of the Prussian ambassador, historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr. While there, Lieber wrote about his experiences in Greece. The result was published in Leipzig in 1823 and also in Amsterdam under the title The German Anacharsis. Lieber returned to Germany on a royal pardon, but was soon imprisoned once again, this time at Köpenick. He was in pretrial detention at Köpenick from August 1824 to April 1825.
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